Visions of Sugarplums

The year is 1973. We have a six foot tall pine tree in the house. The day we brought it home my sister and I got to help decorate it. It’s dripping with tinsel so that it resembles some sort of psychedelic waterfall and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

But, there’s more. Tonight is the very night when the most magical being my young heart can imagine will be dropping in to pay us a visit. He’s this loving, generous old guy in a red suit and he has reindeer that fly.

How am I supposed to go to sleep? I don’t think I could possibly fall asleep, but somehow I do.

I wake up in the middle of the night and slip quietly out of bed. The house is dark but I make my way down the hall to the room where the tree is.

I can make out some shapes under the tree. He’s been here! I can’t tell exactly what’s here, but I can tell it’s a lot. My eyes are adjusting to the dark, and I can see that at least one of the shapes is a doll. She’s huge! I think there are some Barbie dolls here too, and a Barbie van. Santa really came through this year. What a guy!

I wonder why my parents never get me anything for Christmas…

Maybe the part of us that wants to believe in a being that is made of pure love and magic is the part of us that is pure love and magic.